Madhya Pradesh: "Gyandoot" Project

Launched in Dhar District in January 2000
-Population 1.7 Million, 54% tribal, 65% families below poverty line.
-Expenditure Rs. 2.5 million ($50K): borne by Village Committee ‘Panchayat’ & entrepreneurs; not by Government.
-Average cost/kiosk: $1500. 40K users.

Highlights:

-Soochanalaya ‘information kiosks’ with computers in 33 villages (75 next year), wired on intranet.
-Initial 21 put with panchayat help, next 12 by private entrepreneurs.
-Located in Gram Panchayats: either at block HQ or prominent villages on highways (bus stops) or haat bazaars (weekly markets).
-Each caters to 25 to 30 villages (~30K population).

-Managed by rural youth entrepreneurs who run these cybercafes-cum-cyberoffices on commercial basis :
-Pay Rs. 5K as licence fee/year to Distt. Council.
-Look after day-to-day mgt of server/system locally (3 yr MoU).
-Banks agreed to extend loans (3 already financed).
-Annual expected Revenue Rs. 45K. Started earning extra Rs. 50 through horoscopes.

Services offered:

-Agriculture Produce Auction (Rs. 5) opening/closing rates of ~34 commodities. Middlemen removed.
-Land Records (Rs 15 per information):
No more harassment on the hands on patwari (who keeps records)--people had to run to district HQs wasting time & precious earnings.
0.2 million farmers require every 2 agriculture seasons p.a. to obtain loans.

-Online Public Grievance Redressal.
-Online Registration: certification for income/ caste/domicile/loan-passbook (Rs. 10).
Readiness through email, collection from court.
-Net supported Health Services.

Key requirement: Telecom Infrastructure--project implemented only where OFC reached.
Intranet covers only 5 out of 13 developed blocks & 3 out of 7 revenue Tehsils in the District.
Lease lines / VSATs considered expensive.

Other services:

-Village Auction Site: for land, agriculture machinery, cows/bullocks, etc. ...middlemen eliminated
-Rural email, e-news, information on over 100 Government Programs for rural development.

-Matrimonial Service “Vaivahiki”.
-Loan Project Preparation.
-Career Counseling, Ask-the-Expert, free email on social issues.
-Online Employment Exchange.
-Local Weather Report.
-Transparency: “Right to information-Citizen Charter” put on intranet.

Awarded Stockholm Challenge IT Award 2000.

Other Gains:
-Education: Due to awareness, computer institutes have gone up by 60%.
-District is implementing e-learning project with networking of 34 High Schools.
-Changed political allocation of resources.

Besides M.P., other governments are replicating /starting similar projects to remove Digital Divide:
ex: Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Note: The cartoons used here are from the greeting cards used by the project for promotion and awareness creation.

More on e-governance in M.P.
Presentation by Dr. Rajesh Rajora of Gyandoot (August 2001)